Travel Guide: Cheongdo, South Korea
Holidays in foreign countries can be dreadful to some. (Not me I generally enjoy the peace, quiet, and extra day off of work). However, my mood sours when I find out all my favorite restaurants are closed and delivery times and fees have doubled. In my first year in Korea, in 2022, I spent most of my holidays in my apartment with the other poor souls from class with nowhere to go. Luckily for me (because all the other poor souls moved away) I was able to get away with a friend for the long weekend.
But where to go? My friend and I decided to go on an adventure. No Destination, no plan, no suitcase. And if you know me, you know that this was not my idea. With the help of wheelofnames.com (a necessity in any English academy classroom), we had our destination.
Watch the Vlog of Day 1 on my YouTube Channel Here
Cheongdo is a tiny rural town about an hour north of Busan. While small there is plenty to do in the area. Cheongdo is home to a bullfighting area, a wine tunnel, and a temple or two. Sadly there were no bullfights when I went. As a lover of wine, we decided to check out the wine tunnel.
Cheongdo Wine Tunnel (청도와인터널)
Address: Gyeongsangbuk-do Cheongdo-gun Hwayang-eup Songgeum-ri 산121
Somewhere in the middle of the tunnel
If you don’t mind a nice stroll and love taking pictures with different backdrops, this is the place for you. The signature wine sold here is made of persimmons. Within the tunnel, there is a station for writing dreams as well as tables for guests to eat and drink. We went during the off-season so parking and entry were free, and there weren’t very many people. There are several lodges a hop and a skip away but are pricier compared to staying directly in town.
If you don’t like tight spaces, with only one way out, this may not be the activity for you. The farther you head into the tunnel the more stiff and mildewy the air becomes. Ideally, you would walk to the end of the tunnel, which is lit up by a moon, then walk back to the beginning for some wine and snacks. All in all, depending on your walking speed, how many pictures you stop to take, and how much wine you decide to drink, this side quest will take anywhere between 40 minutes and 2 hours.
I am a leisurely walker, love to stop for pictures and videos, and had to try all three versions of the wine. Plus my partner in crime is a light weight and my cheuffer. So after 2 hours in the tunnel we made our way into Cheongdo proper. Where we immidiatly proceed to ditch the car in favor of an electric scooter.
We ditched the car in the parking lot of our motel, which we found and checked into with no previous reservations made. We stayed the night at
Feel Motel (청도와인터널)
Address: Gyeongsangbuk-do Cheongdo-gun Cheongdo-eup Gosu-ri 781-1
View from Feel Motel
You may be thinking why a motel especially since in both the US and Korea motels are a bit more nefarious. However, motels are also the cheapest and not so nefarious in Korea. Now that being said, no the pictures you see online of the motel being bright and shiny are not accurate. Nevertheless, it was a very clean motel, complete with a bathtub and heating pads for the beds, wifi, and parking.
Once settled we were back in the town, which was an incredibly short trip as the town as I said earlier is tiny. Within 15 minutes on the scooter, we were at the end of the line and in search of food. We came apon
Manbogi Stir Fried Octopus (청도와인터널)
Address: Gyeongsangbuk-do Cheongdo-gun Cheongdo-eup Gosu-ri 827-11
If you ever find yourself in Cheongdo, this is the place to eat.
Jjukkumi is a small webfoot octopus often cooked in a spicy red sauce for your eating pleasure. Then cooked again, stir-fried with rice and topped with cheese if you’re lucky. Jjukkumi is my absolute favorite Korean dish. Stating this to Koreans will result in shock, pride, and a future invitation to dinner. Escencially getting you invited to the cookout.
Stir Fried Jjukkumi
As expected in winter, after a few more hours of walking around, stopping at Diaso, and the market for snacks, it was dark and cold. As this is my least favorite combination I was done for the day. We headed back to Feel Motel to relax and talk about our favorite parts of the day.
The next morning, we decided we had seen enough of this small town. We headed to breakfast before leaving for out next destination.
Haeundae Noodle Shop (청도와인터널)
Address: Gyeongsangbuk-do Cheongdo-gun Cheongdo-eup Gosu-ri 825-4
This is slightly ironic considering Haeundae is in Busan, our starting point. Still, there is nothing like a hot soup first thing on a freezing morning. (While the beds had heating pads, the rest of the room and especially the floor were utterly unbearable.
This restaurant was lovely but you can skip the dumplings (they were frozen and reheated from a bag*). I assure you everything else (that we ordered) was fresh.
Clam Noodle Soup
And that brings us to the end of our time in Cheongdo. Stay tuned for day 2 as we head for Miryang!
Watch the Vlog of my day in Cheongdo on my YouTube Channel Here
*yes, I am a dumbling snob since living in Korea
